Metrorail is preparing to carry upwards of 1 million riders on inauguration day.

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WASHINGTON -- Plan on taking Metrorail to the inaugural ceremonies on Jan. 20? Be ready to hit the stairs.

The transit agency says it expects to shut down and lock numerous escalators at high volume stations on the day of the inauguration. That means riders may have to walk up or down some of Metro's notoriously long escalators as they enter and exit stations.

"If there are a huge amount of people entering the station at one time, it is not unusual for the escalators to be turned off, and this is for (people's) own safety," says Metro spokesperson Candace Smith.

Metro has intentionally "locked" escalators for past events like the 4th of July and sporting events.

"Imagine, you've got loads of people piling into a station and they'll back up on the escalators, and there's a crowded platform, and people can fall onto the tracks," says Smith. "It's really the issue of going down and flowing into the system."

Metrorail is preparing to carry upwards of 1 million riders on inauguration day, a mark that will easily shatter the all time record high of 854,638 riders set this past summer.

"You may have to find yourself trudging down the escalators, I mean be prepared for that," says Smith.

"What a Time For an Attack By About Ten Suicide Bombers Wearing Spent Nuclear Waste BombVests !"

Metro sucks as it is; I can only imagine the impact of no elevators and those narrow ass metro stair cases

Some how I am sure it will be Bush's fault

Big city public transportation is awful, except for in NYC, San Francisco and Chicago. We have buses in Detroit, and they stink and are never running on time. Trains are better-Detroit and the northern suburbs were promised some federal money to build a train along Woodward Ave.

They had streetcars in Detroit until the 60s. The system was sold to Mexico City, where it is still operating.

Are they really expecting 1 million people for the inaguaration? Even if the weather is terrible? I know the odds of that are about 50/50.

noonwitch...I heard at a staff meeting today ( I am a nurse) that upwards of 3-4 million are expected and of course there will casualties with those kinds of numbers

i am hoping for a freaking blizzard

I don't blame you for hoping for a blizzard.

We do have some big events in Detroit once in a while. The All Star Game and the Superbowl were here in 2005 and 2006, respectively. They also packed over a million downtown for the Red Wings rally last year. Everyone was very concerned about how it would go, and both events went very well. The police tend to focus all their efforts on security at large gatherings, and people are nicer in those situations than you might expect.

The DC police will have a lot of backup for something like an inaguaration. Unless the Klan or the american nazis show up to protest the event, it will be peaceful.

We do have some big events in Detroit once in a while. The All Star Game and the Superbowl were here in 2005 and 2006, respectively. They also packed over a million downtown for the Red Wings rally last year. Everyone was very concerned about how it would go, and both events went very well. The police tend to focus all their efforts on security at large gatherings, and people are nicer in those situations than you might expect.

The DC police will have a lot of backup for something like an inaguaration. Unless the Klan or the american nazis show up to protest the event, it will be peaceful.

I highly doubt there will be any protests to the Obama inauguration, unlike the silliness of the left in 2000 & 2004. I could be wrong though, as the Phelps crowd to my knowledge hasn't weighed in yet.

They hit here in Washington sometimes for the Right to Life march, which is January 22. I was working on the Hill one year and the Lifers were so overwhelmed by the snowstorm they didn't do their usual march but headed for the subway instead.

It was quite a picture - the federal government was released at about 11 am, so you had thousands of commuters mixing it up with tourists from Indiana trying to juggle bloody-fetus posters and learn the Farecard system at the same time.

My boss at the time, normally quite pro-life, snarled at one of them, "You're not winning any friends for your cause today!!!" :p

"Today, [the American voter] chooses his rulers as he buys bootleg whiskey, never knowing precisely what he is getting, only certain that it is not what it pretends to be." - H.L. Mencken